


New Beginnings (2008)

by JennyB



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Community: 30kisses, Fluff, Gen, Introspection, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-06-30
Updated: 2008-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-12 08:06:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7093612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JennyB/pseuds/JennyB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hakkai decides it's time to make a change in his life. He's just been waiting for the right moment to do so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New Beginnings (2008)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the LJ community 30kisses, prompt#15 - 'perfect blue'

It had been going on for over two weeks now. Maybe more.

Sanzo's eyes slowly opened when he felt the blanket next to him move, and as best he could in the pre-dawn darkness, he watched the shadowy figure move about silently as he dressed. And when the tent flap parted and the other slipped outside, the priest let out a soft, albeit irritable groan and flopped back on his back, a hand coming up to scrub agitatedly through his bangs. 

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he drew his long legs toward him and rested his forearms against his knees. Narrowing his eyes a little, Sanzo glanced to his left. Goku had stolen his pillow at some point during the night and now had it hugged tight to his chest, copious amounts of drool leaking onto it as he murmured sleepily about meat buns and yakisoba. The blond made a face as he listened to the soft gurgling sounds, and he made a mental note to ask Hakkai to give him a fresh pillowcase the next time they stopped to sleep. His gaze shifted to his far right, over the now-empty pallet to where Gojyo was freight-training away. A scowl curved his lips down, and he imagined what sort of perverse dream the kappa was having, almost immediately afterwards wishing that he hadn't. Exhaling heavily, he reached for his robes. He was awake now, and he knew that trying to go back to sleep for another hour would be wasted effort given the noise and his current mood. 

As he pulled his shoes on, he silently cursed the green-eyed healer. It wasn't that Hakkai was excessively noisy when he got up. Truth be told, Sanzo barely heard anything at all – even when the other had to search through his belongings for socks or whatever the hell else it was he needed. It wasn't even the fact that the demon was getting up early. He knew that Hakkai didn't sleep long or late, and his early morning puttering wasn't anything new to him. What _was_ irritating Sanzo was that Hakkai was acting odd – well, odder than usual – and that quirkiness had established itself into a fairly regular routine that his subconscious mind would no longer let him ignore. He couldn't say with any certainty when this had all started, but he'd been having his sleep cut short for a fortnight, and he'd had enough. Today, he was going to get to the bottom of this foolishness.

Stepping outside into the brisk morning air, he reached into his robes and pulled out his cigarettes, sparking one up and taking a deep draw. The sky was beginning to lighten, and after looking around for a moment, he finally spotted Hakkai. The brunet was sitting about twenty metres away on a large, flat rock and gazing out over a dark, glassy lake. Exhaling to the waning darkness, he rolled his eyes. It was the same as yesterday…and the day before…and the one before that. No matter where they were, whether it was at an inn or camping in the middle of Butt-Fuck Nowhere, every morning, Hakkai would get up, find some quiet place to sit, and watch the sunrise. Afterwards, he would come back and either prepare breakfast or rouse everyone to go eat somewhere, pack up their things, and then they'd all leave. 

Sanzo just felt twitchy about the whole thing. It wasn't that Hakkai was being secretive about what he was doing – but he wasn't talking about it, either. Until today, he'd always just looked out to check on the other, and had then tossed and turned until the healer brought him a cup of coffee. But today – today he was going to speak to him. He exhaled another lungful of smoke, and he arched a brow in surprise when he suddenly saw Hakkai lift his head a little, his entire posture straightening. _'Shit,'_ he thought to himself as he crushed out the remains of his cigarette under his foot when he realized that the brunet was now aware that he was there – though whether it was because Hakkai had smelled the Marlboro or felt his aura, he wasn't sure. Knowing the youkai as he did, he suspected it was probably a bit of both. Resigning himself to the fact that he couldn't very well put this off now, he squared his shoulders and quietly made his way over to the other, sitting down beside him on the rock and crossing his arms in front of him. "Can't sleep?" he asked, his tone a bit more brusque than he had meant for it to be.

A smile slowly made its way across Hakkai's face, and not turning to look at the blond, he said, "You know very well that I like to get up early." On hearing the impatient snort from beside him, he smiled wider and answered the unasked question. "I'm watching the sunrise. It's really quite beautiful, you know. Though, despite the similarities between them, it's not simply a mirror image of the sunset."

Sanzo's brow arched at that. "Ok," he replied hesitantly, and unsure about the point the other was trying to make, he asked, "So that's the reason behind your sudden burning interest in sunrises? The fact that they're different?"

"No." The brunet's expression turned impish, and finally, he cast a sidelong glance at the other. "You really want to know?" he replied.

A low, warning growl escaped the other. "I wouldn't have asked if I didn't!" he replied waspishly. "God, are you always this insufferable this early in the morning?"

Hakkai chuckled in amusement. "No more so than any other time, I don't think." Turning his gaze back to the horizon, he drew his knees up and wrapped his arms around them. "On our journey, we're constantly going west, heading towards an end, always seeing the finality of the day. The sunsets are always the same, always ending in darkness. Sometimes, it's nice to look toward a new beginning, something unexpected. There's possibility in a sunrise; something to look forward to."

If it had been anyone else, Sanzo would have laughed derisively and called them an idiot for wasting their time on such overly-philosophical notions – especially when there were more important things to worry about in the here and now. However, Hakkai did, at times, remind him of his master with his quick wit and double entendres, and over time, he'd learned to look beneath the surface of the healer's casual, sometimes seemingly irrelevant remarks to seek out the intended meaning. The green-eyed demon was certainly an enigma, and even now, he sometimes had a hard time puzzling out what the hell was going on. He turned to study the brunet's profile, and he noted the benign, almost innocuous expression. _'Just like those damned smiles of his,'_ he thought wryly. "So, you're a poet now? This newfound optimism of yours is a bit disconcerting."

The healer laughed. "No, it's nothing that extreme, I promise you." He turned to the blond again. "I'm just contemplating the possibilities of trying something new, maybe making a new start."

Violet eyes widened slightly at that, and he felt a slight sense of foreboding on hearing those words. "Hakkai, I –" Sanzo cut himself off and clenched his jaw, not wanting or willing to admit that he was worried. "If you need to take care of some unfinished business…leave for a while –"

"What?" Hakkai cut him off, his own expression one of surprise. "I'm not – no, I don't want to leave, it's not that. I'm just ready to leave some of my baggage behind and carry on with my life." A soft smile curved across his face, and he dropped his gaze away. "I've wanted to tell you about this, but the conditions haven't been right."

"Conditions?" Sanzo arched a brow, the confusion evident on his face.

"Well…" He grinned again, and started listing points off on his fingers. "Yesterday, it was raining. The day before, it was too cloudy. When we were in the valley, there was too much fog. Sometimes, it's been too hazy." He rested his hands in his lap and turned a bit, his grin widening as the sun began to peek over the horizon. "I think today might be a good day, though."

"Fuck but you're weird," Sanzo replied. "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Hakkai chuckled. "I suppose I have been a little bit cryptic," he remarked, a note of sheepishness in his voice. "I just have been waiting for that perfect moment. I think I've found it. The sky is absolutely clear this morning, and it's going to be that perfect blue. And of course, most importantly, you're here this morning." As the sky exploded in an array of crimson and orange, the brunet leaned over and pressed his lips to the blond's in a soft, shy kiss. "Thank you, Sanzo." A brilliant smile lit up his face, and wordlessly, he slipped off the rock and went to go begin making breakfast preparations.

To say that the priest was stunned would be the understatement of the century. Left alone with his thoughts and the sunrise, he sat silently, still able to feel the lingering warmth from Hakkai's mouth. He gave the healer a terse nod when a steaming cup of coffee appeared at his side ten minutes later, and though nothing more was said about what had happened, Sanzo knew that things between the two of them had changed. The fact that he hadn't pulled his weapon on the demon proved to him that it was a change for the better, even if his conscious mind wasn't yet willing to think of things like that. Sipping from his mug, he snorted softly into it. _'Damn it all if he wasn't right,'_ the priest thought to himself as the brilliant colours slowly started to morph into a deep cerulean. The sky was turning out to be a perfect blue – the colour indelibly etched in his mind amid a sea of brilliant green.

Perhaps it was time for him to make a new start, too.


End file.
